Recent history has shown that while ships of the line generally have awesome firepower capability against both airborne threats and other ships of the line, they have very little capability to defend themselves against asymmetric threats in the form of small boats. These are typified by small boats such as jet skis, and speed boats that are determined to intercept and engage the warship at very close range. They can utilize large caches of onboard explosives or guided or unguided weapons to attack the ship. Primarily, this is a problem that is encountered in littoral regions of the earth and regions where waterways and commercial shipping restrict the warships from both maneuvering and utilizing their existing weapons systems. One of the most severe asymmetric threat tactics that will need to be countered is described as the swarm tactic. This involves many small boats utilizing their high speed and maneuverability in attacking a warship in sufficient numbers so as to overwhelm, by shear numbers, any self defense capability the ship might have. Although threats against ships are discussed it is noteworthy that swarm tactics may also be found in land based situations.
In view of the foregoing, there is a need for an airborne system that provides a means of engaging a number of aggressive combatants simultaneously.